Ironing-machine



c.'E. WAREAM AND 0. H. BENJAMIN! IRONING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- I3. 1917.

Patented'Nov. 29

,1921. 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. E. WAREAM AND D. H. BENJAMIN.

lRONING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-.13, 1911.

1,398,248 I Patented Nov. 29, 1921.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- C. E. WAREAM AND D. H. BENJAMIN.

momma MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV- 13. I917.

1,398,248. PatentedNov.29,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

c. E. WAREAM AND D. H. BENJAMIN. IRONING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-13.1917- Patented Nov. 29, 1921. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I 1 f I 7 a ll F f z w v j I TE SATES CHARLES E. WAREAM, OF CINCINNATI,AND DANA H. BENJAMIN, OF CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THEAMERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OFOHIO."

IRONINGr-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 29, 1921.

Original application filed July 2, 1917, Serial No. 178,286. Divided andthis application filed November 13, 1917. Serial No. 201,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHAnLns E. WAREAM and DANA H. BENJAMIN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Cincinnati and Cleveland Heights,respectively, in the counties of Hamilton and Cuyahoga, respectively,and State of Chio, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements inIroning-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ironing machines and more particularly tomachines for ironing shirts.

One form of machine for ironing shirts comprises an ironing. member orchest which cooperates with an ironing board upon which the shirt isdressed, said board having a bosom receiving portion and carrying anadjustable neck band former curved to produce the proper contour of theneck band be fore ironing the shirt. The ironing board is usually soformed as to produce a transverse folding line in the yoke practicallytangent to the back of the neck band, and this term of shirt makes itditlicult to iron what may be called the back corners of the yoke,to-wit, those portions of the yoke lying between the rear curved cornersof the neck band and folding line in the yoke. These back corners of theyoke are commonly ironed by back corner ironers, which heretofore havebeen adjusted by hand into position adjacent the expanded neck band"former, so as to properly position them for the various sizes of neckhand operated upon by the machine.

The present invention has for its object to provide an ironing machinewhose back corner ironers do not require to be adjusted by hand, but aremoved into proper ironing relation with the neck band former, in alladjusted positions of the latter, by the ordinary operation oi themachine to produce ironing relation between the chest and board. j

A further object of the invention is to provide a back corner ironerwhich is automatically adjusted into proper ironing position by therelative ironing movement of the bed and chest, and which back cornerironer produces proper results regardless of the size to which the neckband former is adjusted.

Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part willappear more 1n detallhereinafter.

The invention comprises the construction and arrangement of partshereinafter de-.

scribed and claimed.

In the drawings, which represent one embodiment of the invention, Figure1 is a front elevation of one form of ironing machine on the line 6-6Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a cross section on the line 77 Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is adetail plan view of the neck band former; F ig. 9 is a longitudinalsection thereof on the line 9-9 Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a cross section onthe line 1010 Fig. 8, and Fig. 11 is a detail view, partly in section,showing the operating mechanism'tor the back corner ironer.

This application is a division of our prior application for ironingmachine, filedJuly 2, 1917, Serial No. 178,286 to which reference may behad for a more complete description of a machine embodying theinvention. So far as illustration or description of said machine arerequired for the purpose of this case, it comprises a suitable frame 1having an upright pillar 2 at one side and at its op posite sidestandards 3 which support a head 4 carrying the stationary ironing chestor member 5. Said chest is of common form, comprising a hollow metalmember heated in any suitable manner, such as by steam circulatedthrough its inner chamber 6 by means of the pipes 7. At one end of saidchest is a recess 8 which registers with the neck band former or" theboard when the latter is brought into ironing relation with the chest,as will hereinafter appear.

The pillar 2 supports on a vertical axis a rotatable turret or frame 9,each of whose two arms supports an ironing board. By rotation of saidframe on the pillar either of said boards may be moved from the dressingor loading position at the left in Fig. 1 to a position directly beneaththe chest, as at the right in Fig. 1. Since both of the boards are alikein all respects description of one will suflice for both.

Each arm of the frame 9 is formed as a hollow sleeve 10 to receive apost 11 depending from the base 12 of the board. Said base may also beprovided with a depending pin or bar 13 sliding in an opening of abracket 14 on the frame 9 and arranged to prevent rotation of the boardon the frame 9. vThe base 12v is provided with upright webs 15 whichcarry a block 16 attached to the underside of a longitudinal bar 17lying in a recess of the board beneath the padding 18 thereon. This barextends from the tail end of the board to a point near the neck bandthereof, where it is provided with recesses to receive vertical pins 19on'which are sleeves 20 mounted in recesses in the stationary forwardportion 21 of the neck band former. The sleeves can rise and fall withthe ironing motion, so as to allow the neck band former to sink with thepadding when ironing pressure is applied to the shirt, but theconnections described absolutely prevent any horizontal motion of member21 relative to the swinging frame 9. Consequently whenever the shirtboard is brought into proper position beneath the ironing chest thecurve of the front portion of the neck band I former lies in properregistering relation with the recess 8 of the chest.

The shirt board, indicated at '22, is attached to and carried by ahollow frame 23 having a base 24 sliding longitudinally on V ways of thebase 12 '(see Fig. 7). At one end the board 22 carries a back yokereceiving member 25, from which rises a plate 26 having a head 27provided with a recess or slot to receive a transversely extending rod28 whose opposite ends enter openings in the adjustable back portions 29of the neck band former. Said portions 29 are attached to rods or pin30' which enter horizontal diagonally disposed openings in thestationary forward portion 21 of the neck band former. l/Vhen the frame23 with the attached shirt board 22 is moved back the rod 28 is alsocarried back and moves with it the adjustable rear portions 29 of theneck band former, said portions moving from the full line to the dottedline position Fig. 8, and thereb expanding the neck band former, but sustantially maintaining its shape or form and its registering relationwith the recess of the chest, and also preserving the tangent relationof the transverse end edge of the board to the back of the neck bandformer.

31 indicates a neck band clamping member, whose forward portion 32 is inthe form of an apron depending in front of the sta tionary front portionof the neck band former, and whose body portion slides longitudinally ina recess 33 of the neck band former. This clamping member is suitablyconnected to a rod 34 carrying a spring 35 adapted to normally pushtheclamping device away from the neck band former. Rod 34 extendsrearwardlythrough an opening in an l. shaped member 36 and then through a guidingopening in an upwardly extending portion 37015 a slide 38 movablelongitudinallyin the portion 21 of the neck band former and providedwith a recess 39 to receive the lower edge of member 36. 'Betweenmembers 36 and 37 is located a light compression spring 40. The openingin member 36 is slightly larger in diameter than the rod 34, so thatWhen the vertical portion of member 36 assumes a position askew to theaxis of rod 34 it grips the rod and prevents it frompmoving forwardly.

Nevertheless," the clamping device can be pushed backwardly by pressureapplied directly to its exposed portion, which oscillates member 36about its lower edge and releases said rod 34 from the locking device.

Slide 38 is also provided with a depending notched portion 41 to receivean upwardly extending toe 42 on a bar 43 slidably mounted in a recess orchannelof thebar 17, and whose forward end (see Fig- 5) is pivotallyconnected to one arm of a lever 44 whose other .arm is pivotallyconnected to a rod 45. Said rod, when pulled for- Wardly, moves theclamping member 31 in to firm clamping engagement with the neck band.The actuating means for said rod is as follows: v

Webs 15 of the stationary base 12 support a cross shaft 46 carrying agear segment 47 and a cam 48. Segment 47 cooperates with a gear segment49 rotating on a shaft 50 and carrying a depending arm 51 adapted tomove between an abutment 52 of the movable frame 23 and a cross bar 53carried thereby. A pin 54 extending laterally from the arm 51 engagesthe depending arm 55 of a pivoted lever whose other arm 56 carries aroller 57 lying beneath the horizontal arm 58 of a latch lever pivotedat 59 and provided with a depending 60 whose toe 61 lies at one side ofrod 62. Rod 62 is attached to the cross bar 53 and extends throughguiding openings in frame member 63. Said toe 61 also lies in front of alocking member 64 having a base 65 seated in V the rod by a compressionspring 66. Cam

48 lies opposite and cooperates with a roller 6'? on the lower arm of apivoted lever whose upper arm is pivotally connected to a sleeve 68having sliding movement on the rod 45 and lying adjacent a compressionspring 69 between said sleeve "68 and nuts 70 adjustably threaded on theend of said rod. Rod 45 is also provided with a collar 71 serving as aseat for one end of a compression spring 7 2, whose opposite end abutsthe frame 23. Shaft 46 extends out through one of the webs 15 and on itsouter end i provided with an operating handle or lever 73.

The shirt isdressed upon the board when lying in the loading position atthe left inv Fig. 1, with the neck bandsurrounding the neck band former,said former being in collapsed position. The clamping device 31 ispushed with the fingers into light clamping engagement with the neckband to temporarily hold the same. The operator then lifts the handle orlever 73 in Fig. 5. Thefirst motion of said lever is an idle motion sofar as the gear segment 49 is concerned, as the lever 51 is moved idlyfrom abutment 53 to abutment 52. During this motion cam l8 moves the rod4C5 to the right in Fig. 5 and through the spring 69 moves the clampingdevice 31 backwardly into powerful clamping engagement with the shirtneck band. Further upward m0- tion of lever 7 3 causes the lever 51 topush back the frame 23, which carries back with it the board 22 and.back yoke receiving member 25 and the rear portions 29 of the neck bandformer, thereby expanding said neck band former and filling the neckband of the shirt.

The shirt is now ready for ironing and the frame 9 is swung around tobring the dressed board into ironing relation with the ironing chest.

Upward movement of the board into ironing engagement with the chest maybe produced in any suitable manner. The drawings show for this purpose acylinder 73 to which fluid pressure is admittedwhen desired to elevateits piston 74, and as the rod 7 5 of said piston lies beneath the post11 the board is raised by fluid pressure.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 5, 76 indicatcs two like back cornerironers which slide in or on guiding members 77 carried by the chest.The lines of movement or said back corner ironers diverge at the sameangles and in the same directionsas the rods 30 of the neck band former,and the inner ends of said back corner ironers are curved to correspondwith the curvature of the rear portions 29 of the neck band former.These back corner ironers are movable as described in order to enablethem to be adjusted inwardly into registering relation with the neckband former, whereby, when the chest and board come together, said backcorner ironers iron those portions of the shirt lying between the'curvedrear portions of the neck band "former and the folding line at the endof the board, and

a sleeve 84.

this regardless of the size to which the neck band former may beadjusted. The actuating mechanism for the back corner ironers is asfollows:

iiach back corner ironer is pivotally con nected to a link 78, the twolinks'FS being connected to the opposite arms of a yoke 7 9 whosecentral portion is pinned or otherwise connected to rotate with a crossshaft 80 on the head 4-. One end of said shaft carries an arm8lconnected by a clevis 82 to a rod 83 having slidably mounted thereon85 represents a pressure spring lying between said sleeve and a collar86 adjustably mounted on rod 83. Sleeve 84 is pivotally connected to anarm 87 on a shaft 88 provided within the head l with an arm 89 carryingan antiiriction roller 90.

91 re aresents an abutment plate hin ed at 92 at one side of the recess8 of the chest so as to be capable of being moved from the inoperativeposition shown in dotted lines,

2 to the full line operative position indicated in said view. In thisposition the abutment plate lies directly over the neck band former ofthe board, and said plate carries a slidably mounted vertical pin 93whose lower end normally projects below the plate, and whose upper endlies beneath the roller 90.

Let us assume that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 11, withthe board moving-upwardly into cooperating ironing engagement with thechest. As the board moves upwardly the stationary part of the neck bandformer finally engages the pin 93, thereby lifting the same. Upwardmotion of the pin oscillates the levers 87 and 81 and causes the backyoke'ironers to move inwardly toward the neck band former. l Vhen theyengage the neck band of the shirt further upward motion of the neck bandformer is taken up by the compression spring 85. "When the board finallyreaches ironing relation with the chest the back corner 'ironers are inposition to iron the back corners of the shirt and act in the samemanner as other stationaryportions of the chest. In other words theydepress the padding of the board uniformly with depression of thepadding at other parts of the board by the stationary portions of thechest. During the final upward movement of the board the neck bandformer contacts the abutment plate and itself may sink with the padding.

When the heart is retracted downwardly from the chest the parts returnto their normal. positions ready for another operation.

lVhat we claim is:

1. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest be ing relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer' movable into cooperating relation with the neck band former, and

means for producing said movement of the ironer simultaneously withrelative approaching movement of the bed and chest.

2. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer movable into cooperating relation with the neckband former, anautomatic means actuated by operation or" the machine for producing saidironer movement.

3. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest be ing relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer movable into cooperating relation with the neckband former, andmeans whereby the closing movement of the machine effects said ironermovement.

4. An ironing machine, comprising a bed. a coiiperating chest having arecess, said bed and chest being relatively movable, a neck band former,a back corner ironer movable into cooperating relation with the neckbandformer, and means rendered eiiective by the entry of said neckbandformer into said recess to produce said ironer movement.

5. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a .coiiperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively'movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer movable horizontally toward and from said neck band former, andmeans whereby relative movement of said bed and chest produces movementof said ironer.

6. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former,

back corner ironer on said chest movable into co'ciperative relationwith the neckband former, and means whereby relative movement of saidbed and chest produces said ironer movement.

7. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest be ing relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer carried by said chest and movable toward and from said neckbandformer, and means carried by the chest and actuated by the bed formoving the ironer.

8. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest be ing relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer carried by said chest and movable toward and from said neckbandformer, and means whereby relative movement of said bed and chestproduces movement of said ironer.

9. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer, and means for actuating said ironer by relative movement of saidbed and chest, said means including an operating member for transmittingthe relative motion of said bed and chest to said ironer, said operatingmember being ELCl]UStable either to operative or inoperative position. a

10. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer movable toward and from said neckband former, and means foractuating saidironer by relative approach of the chest and neckbandformer, said means including an operating member for transmitting therelative motion 01" said bed andchest to said back corner ironer, saidoperating member being adjustable either to operative or inoperativeposition.

11. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said bedand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer movably mounted on said chest, and means for actuating saidironer by relative movement of said bed and chest, said means includingan operating member for transmitting the relative motion of said bed andchest to said back corner ironer, said operating member being adjustableeither to operative or inoperative position.

12. An ironing machine, comprising a bed, a cooperating chest, said beeand chest being relatively movable, a neckband former, a back cornerironer, and means for actuating said ironer by relative movement of saidbed and chest, said means including an operat ing member fortransmitting the relative motion of said bed and'chest to said backcorner ironer, said operating member being adjustable either tooperative or inoperative position, and in operative position engagingthe neckband former to thereby depress it on its bed when the'bed andchest come together.

13. An ironing machine, comprising a bed member provided with anadjustable neckband former, means for adjusting said former to varioussizes of neckband, a chest member including. back corner ironingportions having movement toward and from the neokband and a bosomironing portion provided with a neckband receiving recess, said bed andchest members being relatively movable for the ironing operation, andmeans whereby the relative movement of saf d mem bers causes engagingrelation between said back corner ironing portions and a neckband onsaid former regardless of the size to which the former is adjusted.

14:. An ironing machine, comprising a bed member provided with anadjustable neckband former, means for adjusting said former to varioussizes of neck band, a chest member including back corner ironingportions having movement toward and from the neckband and a bosomironing portion provided with a neckband receiving recess, said bed andchest members being relatively movable for the ironing operation,actuating means for producing such relative movement, and means ailcctedby operation of said actuating means for automatically moving said backcorner ironing portions into engagement with a neckband on said formerregardless of the size to which said former is adjusted.

15. An ironing machine, comprising abed member provided with anadjustable neckband former, a cooperating chest member having a recessadapted to register with the neck band former, means for adjusting saidneckband former to various sizes of neck-- bands and maintaining itsregistering relation with said recess throughout its range of adjustmentback corner ironers movable relatively to said neckband former,mechanism for actuating said bed and chest members for the ironingoperation, and means operated thereby for causing engaging relationbetween the back corner ironers and a neckband on said former regardlessof the size to which the former is adjusted.

16. An ironing machine, comprising a bed member provided with anadjustable neckband former having a relatively stationary front portionand back portions movable rearwardly with the bed and with respect tosaid stationary front portion, a chest memher having a recess adapted toregister with the stationary front portion of the neck band former,operating means for the back portions of said neck band former,backcorner ironers movable into cooperating relation with the backportions of a neckband on said former, and actuating mechanism therefor,the arrangement being such that operation of said operating means doesnotdisturb either the registering relation between the neckband formerand recess in the chest or the cooperating relation between the backcorner ironers and the back portions oi the neckband.

17. An ironing machine, comprising relatively movable bed and chestmembers, a neckband former on the bed, an ironing member movable intocooperating relation with the neck band former and actuated by relativemovement of the bed and. chest members, and adjustable means forrendering said ironing member operative or inoperative.

In testimony whereof we afiiX our signatures.

CHARLES E. WVAREAM. DANA H. BENJAMIN.

